Morning round-up: The sinking building


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Preliminary reports from the scene of the collapsed building in Deira show that

, The National reports.

Essa al Maidour

, the municipality's assistant director general for general projects affairs, said his team was trying to reach the basement to find the root of the problem, which could be a cavity in the soil caused by water run-off or faulty concrete slabs. Meanwhile,

BuildSafeUAE

has called for the municipality to ensure minimum standards of qualification for construction workers and asked for complete transparency in the investigation into the causes of the accident so that other companies can avoid the same mistakes.

Photo caption: A UAE policeman stands by as three UAE officials inspect the site where a building collapsed in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 16 August 2009. EPA / Ali Haider

in December, Asa Fitch reports in The National. The sukuk price started to fall last September, hitting a low of 63.5 cents in February. Since then, it has risen 46 per cent. Wayne Arnold, chief economics correspondent for The National, says this is

Union Properties is on a downward spiral after reporting a second quarter loss of Dh227.95m last week, Rocel Felix reports in the Khaleej Times. Al Mal Capital downgraded the company to "under perform". With no statements from the chief executive and the lack of a spokesman, there is a lot of uncertainty over the company's strategy in the months ahead.

Fewer than half of an expected 22,400 units have been delivered to the Dubai market this year, Parag Deulgaonkar reports in Emirates Business 24/7.

Angela Giuffrida, reporter for The National, takes a closer look at attempts to use auctions to sell property in Dubai. More companies are using novel techniques to get people buying and selling again.